RocketSkates

Acton RocketSkates are smart motorized skates that fit right over your shoes. Once they’ve been powered on, simply push off and the motors will take over to propel you forward. For accelerating, lean forward and for braking or stopping, put your heel down. This means that the rider has complete control over the motor without the hassle of a remote. With an app and Bluetooth connection, the skater can track their route and mileage as well as the progress of other Acton RocketSkaters in the area.

3D printing has changed the way engineers test products, allowing them to cut down on time and costs. But what about 3D printing the components that go into most of these products?

Botfactory computer engineer Carlos Ospina said that most of the people he encountered didn’t believe it was possible. But he’s proven them wrong with Squink, a portable circuit board factory that allows you to test your project in minutes in the comfort of your home — costing around $2 to print.

Equity crowdfunding platform SeedInvest just completed its Series A round of funding by reaching out to investors through its own platform.

To build a startup, you’ve got to believe in your mission. Big time. That’s why the co-founder of apartment-rental site Airbnb never stays in hotels. And that’s why the SeedInvest team raised its first round of funding through equity crowdfunding.

The advantage with enterprise startups if that they can be based just about anywhere. And that’s proved today with the news that Brightpearl, which a cloud-based business management system aimed at small to mid sized multi-channel retailers, has raised another $10m. The round led my MMC Ventures with participation from Quayle Munro and existing investors Eden Ventures and Notion Capital. That bring its total funding to date to around $24 million after previous funding rounds, including $8 million last year, and $5 million in 2011. This latest round will be used to accelerate investment in product and sales expansion.

That’s what your cat will think, but in reality you’ve probably just installed a Kittyo, a new gadget that enables cat owners to play with their cats remotely.

Through the Kittyo app for iOS and Android, you can use the device as a laser pointer, watching your cat go bonkers chasing it. You can also record video, speak to your pet, and dispense treats through the crowdfunded pet gizmo.

The KittyoAbove: The KittyoImage Credit: KittyoAt 7 inches tall, Kittyo attaches to shelves and walls to ensure it’s impervious to your cat’s curious bats. The gadget looks a bit like a coffee machine — but it’s obviously way cooler, because it has a laser.

The eponymous pet-tech startup on Monday launched a Kickstarter campaign, which hit its $30,000 goal in an absurdly fast 36 minutes, according to the company. Five days later, the campaign total stands at $177,119 raised, nearly six times its original goal with four weeks of crowdfunding left.

“We’ve had an incredible week since we launched on Kickstarter just 5 days ago,” the Kittyo team wrote in a Kickstarter update Saturday. “With [over] 1,600 backers and more than $175,000 pledged already, we couldn’t have dreamed of a better launch. We hope we can maintain this incredible momentum for the next 27 days.”

The startup is offering Kittyos to campaign backer who plunk down at least $139 (though there are still some available a lower ‘early bird’ price). The company expects to ship Kittyo to backers in November. To learn more about Kittyo, check out the video below.

Airbnb has closed a large round of funding at an 11-figure valuation, according to multiple reports.

The Wall Street Journal reports hearing from sources that Airbnb has sealed a deal to raise $450 million led by TPG, a private equity firm, while website TechCrunch reported that the round was for $500 million. Both publications put the valuation at $10 billion.

Smartisan announced recently it closed the funding round at RMB 180 million (US$29 million), placing its overall valuation above the RMB 1 billion (US$161 million) mark. The company didn’t reveal where the money came from, but thanked previous investors in the announcement.

WHAT happens when a multinational firm decides to shutter its Irish operation? Do staff just filter off into other multinational jobs? Or can indigenous entrepreneurs emerge? It's the ultimate post-IDA question: are multinational outfits actually creating an ecosystem that can be self-sustaining?

After being in closed beta for nine months since last June, 5 Rocks, a Korean mobile game analytics startup founded in 2008, launched officially on April 9, 2014. The team has some serious firepower. Changsu Lee, the CEO of 5Rocks, led the tech team at GameON, a Japanese developer and publisher of video games and also worked as a product manager at SK Telecom, Korea’s largest telecom. Chester Roh, one of the co-founders, is an experienced serial entrepreneur. He co-founded 4 startups including INZEN, which went public on KOSDAQ in 2002 and Tatter&Company, a Korean blogging platform, which was the first company in Asia that was acquired by Google in 2008. He worked for Google post-acquisition and left in 2010. Both founders hail from KAIST (Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology) – the MIT of Korea which has yielded a number of top programmers in Korea.

The 13 year old computer games company based in the Netherlands is using the crowdfunding platform fundedflow to raise US$ 100,000. “We are crowdfunding to expand the business” said CEO of Xing Interactive B.V, Alex de Vries.

Xing Interactive has a had a solid 13 year track record in the games industry, with a focus on development and publishing. What makes Xing Interactive a solid investment opportunity is the experience and interesting range of games they produce such as puzzle and adventure genres. “We have developed and published over 300 games and have existing international distribution channels in 32 countries” CEO Alex told fundedflow.